LibDem Blogs - Archived!

The Head of the Metropolitan police has criticised Labour's House Arrest plans and backed the Lib Dem call to allow use of wiretap evidence as they do on the continent.

Having read a Northern Echo story that Labour has attacked the views of 75 of its own Parliamentarians as "bonkers", or to be more accurate "Not even Mrs Thatcher advocated policies as bonkers as this one!" I've been left wondering what has happened to Labour. The policy in question would be to extend to conscientious objectors the ability to pay their taxes into active peacebuilding, rather than into defence. The argument goes that the law recognises conscientious objectors are unable to contribute to war through serving in the armed services, but of every penny they earn, part is ...

On Thursday, the people of Newton Hall North gave me a new colleague. They overwhelmingly elected Amanda Hopgood (a Lib Dem), to fill the vacancy caused by the sad death of George Hunter last year. Turnout was 38%, which is pretty good for a local by-election. Further details are on the Durham Lib Dem website. I look forward to working with Amanda.

One of the issues in Yardley for the General Election is that the Labour Candidate is not really interested in Yardley, but wanted to be the Labour Candidate for Wakefield Central. As part of her campaign to be selected in Wakefield (June 2004) Karen Marshall from Yorkshire said "there are four candidates left on the shortlist and I feel that Jayne Innes is the best one for the job. She has

The Guardian reports today that all of the political parties are using the new Freedom of Information Act to dig for dirt against their opponents in time for the General Election. Reference is made to Norman Lamb's success in getting a list of those who have dined at Chequers but this seems to be tame compared to some of the other requests. Labour diggers are trying to discover if Mr Howard fast-tracked a passport for a family friend when he was home secretary. They are also seeking the help of gay campaigners to uncover Mr Howard's record on ...

This morning's Guardian reports on yesterday's visit to London by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: She arrived at Downing Street at 8am to meet Mr Straw, who took her to the Terracotta Room, where she joined Mr Blair and his officials for a full English breakfast. Ms Rice hails from Alabama in the Deep South, where breakfasts bear a strong family resemblance to the British/Irish fry-up.